Helping the voteless MEP

From European Voice's Entre-Nous column

10/30/07, 6:00 PM CET

Updated 4/23/14, 8:43 PM CET

Help is at hand for whichever poor soul ends up being president of the European Parliament after 2009. In the negotiations on the reform treaty at Lisbon, it was decided that, in order to placate Italy, the size of the Parliament would be increased from what had previously been envisaged for the post-treaty regime, from 750 MEPs to 751, but that the 751st MEP, the president, would not have a vote.Happily, the Parliament is taking its own steps to reduce the pain for whoever ends up being the voteless MEP. It has just agreed to invite bids for contractors to run a role-playing game that is to be one of the highlights of a new visitors’ centre in Brussels. The game, similar to one offered to visitors to the Danish parliament, the Folketing, will allow visitors to experience the thrills of an MEP’s life (minus the food and drink). In the Danish game, participants are divided into political groups and have to deal with various draft legislative proposals, such as sending troops on a mission to the fictional country of Urania or releasing prisoners and tagging them with radio transmitters. Participants get advice from experts within their groups or from lobbyists. Then they debate and vote. So whoever becomes president of the Parliament in 2009 could always pop into the visitors’ centre for a taste of voting. It would be almost as relevant as the real thing.

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